206 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



reach* explanation of the color-rings, with black crossing, observed by 

 Brewstcr around the cavities in diamonds, by supposing them to be caused 

 in a similar manner as those of unevenly compressed glass. The carbonic 

 acid, then, stands in the same relation to diamonds as the mother lye in- 

 closed in a number of native and artificial crystals. That there are large 

 quantities of carbonic acid under a high pressure in the body of our planet, 

 is shown by the immense quantities escaping at various localities, as, for 

 instance, at the springs of Xauheim (Hessia), where, according to Bunsen, 

 not less than a million pounds are annually carried to the surface. 



Actual experiments, as to the solubility of carbon in liquid carbonic acid", 

 have, as yet, failed in the hands of the author. He has, however, no doubt 

 that numerous experiments in the same direction will be, and have been 

 made, the results of which should not be concealed from a fear of prejudice 

 against the scheme of diamond-making. Negative results are the more val- 

 uable, as they prevent much unnecessary research in the same field. Pog- 

 gendorff's Annalen. 



PREPARATION OF CALCIUM. 



MM. Lies-Bodart and Jobin announce to the Academy of Sciences, at 

 Paris, that they have succeeded in preparing calcium in a purely chemical 

 way, by heating the iodide, with potassium, in an iron crucible, closed by a 

 cover screwed on air-tight. 



This mode may, at present, be convenient to chemical professors and stu- 

 dents, who do not often see this metal, and the fact evolved, that this reac- 

 tion takes place under high pressure, which it does not under the pressure of 

 the atmosphere, may perhaps lead to results more important on the large 

 scale of industry. 



LARGE SPECIMENS OF TITANIUM. 



At a late meeting of the Manchester (England) Philosophical Society, Mr. 

 William Brockbank exhibited some large specimens of titanium, which have 

 recently been found in considerable quantities, filling the crevices and under 

 the hearths of the fire-brick linings of the furnaces of the Hematite Iron 

 Company, of "NVhitehaven. In one instance it occurred in a large mass 

 wciu'hing nearly four cwts., under the furnace hearth, having found its way 

 through the crevices between the fire-bricks. Smaller masses, weighing 

 from fifty or sixty pounds to a few ounces, were found filling the hollows 

 and crevices in the lining of the furnace, around that part which holds the 

 molten metal. The occurrence of titanium in such large quantities is a new 

 and interesting circumstance, previous instances being confined to a few fur- 

 naces in South Wales (where hematite ore is used as a mixture), and to 

 some in the Hartz Mountains, in both of which cases the specimens found 

 were comparatively small. 



ON THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL BY THE UCHATIUS PROCESS. 



The following is an abstract of a paper and discussion on the above sub- 

 ject, reported from the " Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engi- 

 neers," by the London Civ. Eng. Journal, January 18-30 : 



To compare the Uchatius with other processes, it must first be considered 

 what steel really is, and in what manner it may be produced. This point 



